


Rapid Fire

by Fairyglass



Series: Fluff Bingo Q1, 2019 [4]
Category: Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 08:58:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18465706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairyglass/pseuds/Fairyglass
Summary: John can hardly shut McKay up when they're off world, but somehow Rodney and Radek communicate in a sort of mystical, scientific shorthand that both weirds him out and fascinates him.





	Rapid Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [DW's Fluff Bingo](https://fluffbingo.dreamwidth.org/), Q1 2019
> 
> Square: Easy

John just watches them, a confused frown drawing his eyebrows together.

“Okay, but if we do that--”

“Yes, yes, it’ll overload the--

“But not if we first--”

“Oh, yes, good. Even brilliant.” 

“So,” John says slowly, pulling one hand off his belt with a rolling motion. “You can do it?” He’s fairly sure most of that was positive, but he really can never be too sure with these two.

McKay and Zelenka exchanged a glance, Radek pushing his glasses up with one finger.

Radek starts first. “I am going to say five hours, which is conservative at _best_ \--”

Rodney snorted, “What are you, Union? _Three_ , maybe.”

“But we will make it in two,” Radek says with a droll expression. Rodney just looks thoughtfully calculating, one hand making vague gestures in the air near his head; as if he could pull the information directly from his own thoughts. 

“Right,” he says with distraction. “Because we can just--”

“Yes,” Radek finishes, already reaching for his laptop. “By feeding into the conduit on--”

“Guys,” John interrupts them, both hands lifting to pat at the air between them. “This is hardly an emergency. I just wondered if it was a thing we even _could_ do. Take all the time you need.”

They look at him again, one over bright and clever the other mussy but sharp. John flinches a little because brilliance shouldn't be a palpable energy, and yet with them? It very much is. It was a weight they simply exuded, pushing everything around them out from their center, smacking John right across the chest.

“Is good practice for when it is an emergency,” Radek says with humorless mirth. Rodney just snorted again, looking across the workbench. 

“Be right back, I left my--”

“Second table, on the right.”

“Yes, yes,” Rodney says impatiently, flicking his wrist dismissively while he moved deeper into the physics lab. 

“Doc,” John can’t help it. He has to ask. Leaning his hip against the silver slab of table, he folded his arms across his chest. “How do you two do it?”

Radek blinked at John owlishly. “It?”

“You just…” He struggles to find the right words. “You two. You’re constantly bickering, but always seem to know what the other’s thinking? I have to practically stuff a sock in McKay’s mouth off world, but you two -- you’re not even finishing each other’s sentences before you’re onto the next part. It’s just….” It’s intimidating is what John _really_ wants to say, but doesn’t feel being that honest with Radek Zelenka is good for either of them. “It’s weird.”

“What’s weird?” Rodney rejoins them quicker than John would have expected, his laptop tucked under his arm. He’s using his teeth to pull open a powerbar.

Radek uses his finger to take turns pointing between the two of them. “How we do what we do.”

“Oh, because--?”

Radek nodded, pushing his glasses up again. “Yes.”

“It’s simple,” Rodney hummed. “It’s just easier this way.” Taking a bite of his snack, he pumped his eyebrows, rather pleased with his explanation.

John’s eyes rolled. “That wasn’t remotely an answer.”

“It is about thinking down the same paths,” Radek adds, trying to be helpful. But from the look John gives him, it was anything but.

Rodney takes another bite of his powerbar before setting it down. This way he can use both his hands to speak, even if it's speaking with his mouth full. “Okay, look.” He squares himself up off of John, so John pulls himself up from his slouch and gives McKay his full attention. 

“Let’s say you had to do a barrel roll in a Jumper for some reason, but you have four passengers and one of them is bleeding out in the cargo area.”

“Okay,” John says easily, nodding absently as he followed along.

“No, no -- think it through _with_ me, at the same time. Don’t _wait_ for me; you’re smarter than this.” Rodney’s fingers moved through the air, plucking at ideas John can't see.

John took a harsh breath through his nose, glancing sidelong towards Zelenka before focusing back on Rodney. “Evasive maneuvers, multiple passengers, one down. Right. I have to uncouple the stabilizers from the inertial dampeners to maintain cabin--”

“Exactly, but to do that?”

“I have to redirect energy from the thrusters, because they inherently want to--”

“Which means you have to shunt power from the--”

“But that will overload the environmentals--” 

“Not if you immediately cross it over to the--”

“Auxiliary propulsion!” John absolutely beams, bouncing on his feet once in excitement.

“And Lord knows you love anything that can be made to go even faster,” Rodney concluded with a disdainful flourish around John’s shoulders. 

But John isn’t rising to the bait. Instead, he’s grinning and wagging his finger between them. “We did the thing! The weird thing!” He grins over at Radek in equal parts confirmation and validation.

“See? Is easier.” Radek folds his arms casually.

Rodney reclaimed his powerbar. “Yes, if more people would just think like me, everything would be so much simpler.”

“Oh, is that so,” Radek rocked his head back, worn exasperation etching around his mouth. This is an old, old argument.

“Hey,” John says quickly as a distraction. “It’s almost 1300, I doubt either of you have eaten lunch yet?” He eyes Rodney’s disappearing powerbar. “I’ll grab you some chow, head back up here while you work. And it’s Thursday.” He says the date like it’s a challenge. Rodney and Radek slide their eyes first towards each other, then over John.

“Roast beef,” Radek easily says.

“But also orange chicken,” Rodney points out with alarmed alacrity.

“Well, obviously I wouldn’t--” John’s eyes roll again.

“Because, as we all know,” Radek is also rolling his eyes.

“Oh, hey, and the Daedalus is only gone three days out,” Rodney adds, coming around to pleasanter topics other than citric death.

“So, chocolate pudding still,” John smirks.

Rodney claps his hands together, rubbing the palms thoroughly. “Very good, grasshopper!” 

Radek just looks on fondly, popping open the lid of his laptop. “We shall make competent problem solver of him yet.”

Rodney popped open his own laptop, eyes already on the screen. “Please, we’ll never be able to beat the self sacrificing suicidal tendency out of him thoroughly enough to be useful.”

“So, that’s three orange chickens? Got it,” John says with a snide smirk, crinkling his nose coyly at McKay’s horrified expression before he heads out.


End file.
